Bathymetric Survey Off Cape Hatteras

One cruise objective for the April 2017 NSF-PEACH research cruise is to conduct a bathymetric survey of the shelf break approximately 20 nautical miles east-southeast of Cape Hatteras, NC. UNC’s Sara Haines explains that existing bathymetry in this area is of questionable quality possibly owing to the stitching of hand-drawn bathymetric maps in along the line of latitude at 35ºN. Over 2 evenings, R/V Neil Armstrong will drive several lines over the area while using shipboard multibeam sonar in order to survey the seafloor. This data will be extremely important for OOMG’s numerical models resolving the area in future studies of the Gulf Stream and shelf water exchange.